[drunksunflower]

That is the question ... :>

Who here eats meat? Who doesn't?

I have been pretty much always into SEAFOOD, but nothing else really ...

I will occasionally eat chicken (less so lately).

But I've always had a soft spot for the occasional bacon and eggs. And a rare bit of salami or proscuitto on an antipasto platter. Or some duck in a salad or on a blue cheese, duck, kumara, and rocket pizza (this is a recent development).

I must be the world's worst pseudo-vegetarian ...

What do YOU eat (or not, as the case may be?)

[Juliana]

Vegetables (especially brussels sprouts and turnip) are my favourites and I love pasta. I also have a thing for Mjaddra (Lebanese lentils, rice and onions) with hummus. I eat that for dinner about three nights a week. There's a great Lebanese take-out place near my office.

As for meat, I eat mostly chicken and fish (especially haddock and I LOVE crab), but it's not a moral issue. Those are just what I prefer eating because I like them best. I eat beef and pork and other things once in a while, when I'm in the mood. In fact, I had beef last night. I also love eating paté on crackers when I'm at a cocktail party.

There are very few things I won't eat. I won't eat raw fish sushi, but I'll eat the vegetarian dishes at sushi restaurants. I'm too worried about bacteria and stuff to eat raw fish... and I'm squeamish about veal because of how the calves are raised. I also won't eat squash or beets because I hate them -- can't even stand the smell.

P.S. Forgot to mention my favourite weekend treat -- Eggs Benedict. I LOVE Eggs Benedict -- I like the yolks runny and I like it with ham.

[Maven]

I eat all kinds of meat, except organ meat (yuck!), but especially chicken and hamburger.

Juliana, I haven't had Mjaddra for a long time, because it's not a favorite meal--but I do like it. My bf has made it, and I have done it with his help.

I like seafood, but it's not my favorite meat. I was raised on seafood. I love fish, but hate anything bony...I might love the flavor, but not the bones, in other words. Looove weakfish, but haven't had it in a long time, probably not since my dad died. I love crabmeat, too.

I have mixed feelings about eating meat and animal welfare. I don't like the meat industry, how animals are killed for meat, the fact that they are killed for meat, etc. At the same time, I believe we're supposed to eat meat. But I'll become a vegetarian if they start putting out meat from cloned animals like they plan to, without informing the public about which meat is cloned and which isn't.

I've eaten raw fish sushi (sushi does not mean "raw fish," nor is it always made with raw fish!), but I'm squeamish about too much of it (knowing it's raw fish squidges me), and I haven't been able to attempt sashimi, which is always raw fish. I prefer cooked Japanese and Korean foods, like rice, miso soup, beef or chicken teriyaki, chicken tempura, etc. God, I miss Japanese food! We can't afford to eat it right now.

I absolutely refuse to eat veal, for the same reason Juliana mentioned. I love beets, though. Not big on squash, except I do like pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. Also, my boyfriend makes butternut squash bisque some years (for Christmas), and it is awesome!

[Liberada]

I eat meat. Not too big on beef though. Chicken is okay but there only so many way to make chicken. Pork... Not big on pork in general but I've never passed up a chance at a serving or three of bacon. Never had duck. Had rabbit - tastes like chicken. DH deer hunts. I'll cook it but I pass on the meat and go for the veggies. I could easily become a vegetarian but bread is reeeealy good with butter! ... I like beans. LOL

Beans, Beans the magical fruit,
The more you eat, the more you toot,
The more you toot the better you feel,
So lift your leg and let it squeal!

[Maven]

I'm not big on pork, either, but it's ok. Love pork in dumplings, though. Bacon, yummy. Duck's not bad. Rabbit--it tastes like chicken, yes, but not as chicken-y. Venison is good. So is kangaroo.

Liberada, vegetarians can eat butter. It's vegans who don't eat any animal products at all.

[Juliana]

Liberada, I love your bean song. LOL.

We used to sing a similar one when I was a kid except it went,

Beans, beans, they're good for your heart
The more you eat, the more you fart

[drunksunflower]

I remember eating crocodile a while ago :> It's interesting.

The grossest seafood I have ever eaten is Pigfish. Have mates who are fishermen and ummm well yea. Revolting. Wrong.

I am a sushi and sashimi NUT I especially like tuna and salmon cut as sashimi.

I think I will always be a bit of a 'lapsing' pesce-vege heh.

[Maven]

I remember both those bean songs, only I only knew the first two lines of the "toot" one, LOL!

I don't think I've had crocodile, but I have had alligator for Mardi Gras. When cooked right, it's not chewy, and quite good!

Pigfish??? Never heard of that! ROFL!

DSF, when I do eat sushi, tuna is one of my faves, too.

[Juliana]

My little brother works in the meat industry -- in a slaughterhouse. He loves animals, but he actually enjoys his job. Strange, I know. I'm just happy he's found full-time work he's contented with. He was a very troubled kid.

Anyway, after he had been at his job for a few months, he asked to be transferred to the cattle area because he couldn't handle killing pigs. They seemed so intelligent to him and he felt like he was killing a dog... and he loves dogs. He won't eat pork anymore after having worked with pigs. He's okay with beef though.

[Liberada]

There is a pork processing plant where I live. With pork they can make money off of every thing but the squeal.

[Maven]

That's weird to me, but I don't think people who work on farms can't kill their cattle and chickens and still love animals in general.

[(JD)]

After studying the why's of God's requirements for Israel (as if I could understand God's whys) and being reflective on today's problems with food sources, I generally abide by these rules for myself:

No pork, no shellfish, no fish without scales ....

In the New Testament God tells us all things are lawful but all things are not expedient. I believe that includes foods...as His revelation to Peter shows.

I understand the no pork or shellfish because they are the scavenger's of the earth/waters. Of course there is a commandment about cloven foot vs non cloven foot animals. I won't eat dog, btw. (Pigs have no sweat glands and thus all toxins remain in the meat. Mollusks etc are bottom feeders, scarfing up the dung of the other life. And did you know shrimp are also canabals? And "fish without scales" includes such as eels and porpoises.

In today's market, it's hard to find really clean/pure fish. Even if you buy through a farm, they are usually fed growth hormones etc. Fresh fishes often have high levels of things not suitable for me to ingest

I do eat limited meat... angus beef only (with no additives in foods,no antibiotics? no hormones etc) and perdue chicken (only) for the same reasons. But I can also become ill if the Perdue chicken is very yellow...I think I'm allergic to the type of they allow to get that effect. But hey, I have to eat only orange-blossum honey, due to my allergies of general weeds

Eggs don't like me, even free range, though I haven't had my own chicken in many a year

I truly love vegetables! I could eat a salad 3 times a day... but don't

[drunksunflower]

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Liberada said:
There is a pork processing plant where I live. With pork they can make money off of every thing but the squeal.

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You funnai Liberada ...

Mmmm sausages

[Juliana]

That's interesting Sky.

My nana's family would have starved to death if they hadn't eaten shellfish. In their little corner of the world, lobster was the main source of food. The land was too rocky for much more than subsistance farming and they survived mainly on lobster... not many other fish close to the shore. Many of my relatives still eat a lot of lobster and that's how they earn a living too.

[Juliana]

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Maven said:
That's weird to me, but I don't think people who work on farms can't kill their cattle and chickens and still love animals in general.

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Yup. I couldn't do it, but I agree. My little brother still loves animals.

[Juliana]

Many varieties of freshwater eels have scales.... but I've never eaten an eel. Eek.

P.S. It's a myth that pigs don't have sweat glands. They do have sweat glands (apocrine glands), they're just not as plentiful or effective at cooling them down as humans'. Same goes for most breeds of cattle. Some breeds of cattle, like Brahman, have more highly-developed, effective sweat glands than other breeds. I used to work for a company that published magazines about farming. I know way more about this stuff than I ever wanted to.

[drunksunflower]

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Juliana said:
My little brother works in the meat industry -- in a slaughterhouse.

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Yea when I was at college and my first year of uni my bf at the time worked at the meatworks. It was aiight pay as you worked your way up the classes. They had to do the halal meat thing sometimes as NZ exports so much meat overseas. Kinda interesting, the meat industry.

On a recent project I was working for a CRI here (Crown Research Institute) and I had to do a lot of business interviewing in the agricultural / pastoral sector. It was interesting talking about automation. It is still more economical in a lot of situations, for a lot of processes, to use people power rather than robotics. I thought that was quite novel actually.

Ooooh I LOVE eel ... smoked eel is gorgeous, especially in a pate.

I make a Fijiian dish called Kokoda, which is a delicate white fish marinated in lemon or lime juice to 'cook' it, then with fresh coconut cream, chilli, capsicum (pepper), and red onion. I throw cucumber in sometimes too.

It is totally delicious even if you aren't into raw fish ...

[drunksunflower]

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Juliana said:
Many varieties of freshwater eels have scales.... but I've never eaten an eel. Eek.

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Eel is a very delicate, flakey, white meat :>

Delicious smoked.

I dunno, I am weird ... I will eat paua, kina, oysters. Oysters raw, too (and mussels).

But I cannot face a steak or mince ...

[Juliana]

Kokoda sounds delicious. I think I would like that. I love fish with citrus and I love coconut milk. Mmmmmm...

I've never tried eel, but I do like smoked fish in general. Maybe I'll try it one of these days.

[drunksunflower]

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Juliana said:
That's interesting Sky.

My nana's family would have starved to death if they hadn't eaten shellfish. In their little corner of the world, lobster was the main source of food. The land was too rocky for much more than subsistance farming and they survived mainly on lobster... not many other fish close to the shore. Many of my relatives still eat a lot of lobster and that's how they earn a living too.

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Interesting too.

This guy here recently got caught in a current while diving (for crayfish, which are kinda lobsterish).

His boat could not find him, and he was in the water for 78 hours. He very nearly died.

The thing that probably saved him was that he'd harvested a crayfish, and the meat / liquid from that (given that he floated around the bottom of the North Island of NZ for over 3 days).

The cray was both a psychological link for him (he said it became almost like a friend, the fact there was another living creature around him), and a source of the only nutrients he had in that time.

Btw, cray is very sweet and delicate ... YUM. <craving>

[Juliana]

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drunksunflower said:
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Delicious smoked.

I dunno, I am weird ... I will eat paua, kina, oysters. Oysters raw, too (and mussels).

But I cannot face a steak or mince ...

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I don't think you're weird. A lot of this is based on what we got used to growing up. My BIL is from Newfoundland. They eat a lot of things there, like cod cheeks, cod tongues, and moose, that make a lot of people go eeeeew. A lot of the villages are very isolated and people don't have much money, so nothing goes to waste. I still haven't gotten up the courage to try the cod cheeks and tongues, but I've tried stewed moose and it was yummy.

[Juliana]

That's a beautiful story. What a survivor. Wow!

[drunksunflower]

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Juliana said:
Kokoda sounds delicious. I think I would like that. I love fish with citrus and I love coconut milk. Mmmmmm...

It is. I have a Fijiian friend who gave me his recipe. It's very easy. Just have to marinate overnight and not only in the citrus because it can become a little tart.

The coconut cream balances.

I want some right now!!!!!

I've never tried eel, but I do like smoked fish in general. Maybe I'll try it one of these days.

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I love shellfish! I'd crawl over broken beer bottles for a po'boy sandwich from New Orleans with shrimp and oysters in it! Shrimp is sooooooooo good prepared so many different ways. I like crab and lobster also.

I eat tons of vegetables......lots of legumes, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, salads, turnips and on and on. My cholestrol and blood pressure are in good shape......

I love pizza, homemade spinach, with a good cold coca cola......no processed foods for me.

I won't touch red beef. I rarely eat chicken and don't eat any pork. It's about animal cruelty and health. right now i'm having black beans, green chile sauce, cheese with a free range fried egg on it......i didn't make tortillas today. so it is a new mexican soup with an egg on top.

wish we had a whole smoked salmon and a bottle of good wine and a loaf of bread to share right now.........

[drunksunflower]

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Juliana said:
That's a beautiful story. What a survivor. Wow!

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Yes ... this is very New Zealand, but there was a documentary made for a programme called Inside New Zealand - he was ex-Navy and his bro was an All Black (national rugby representative).

So he was sort of the perfect subject ... lol.

Very cool though. He made the decision not to swim to shore because the current was too strong and he did not think he could make it. So just floated as long as possible.

And of course there was a shark component lol.